SPECIAL a new company.is formed in which there are any Stock Exchange dealings, present or prospective, it is necessary that there should be a " special settlement." This means that a day is appointed by the committee of the Stock Exchange whereon all prior deal ings in the shares are to be settled. Unless and until this is done it is usually very difficult to deal in the shares, but as soon as the special settle ment has taken place the bargains take place under ordinary circumstances and are henceforth settled on the ordinary account days. To obtain a special settlement the broker of the company must make a formal application sup ported by evidence that certain conditions imposed by the rules of the Stock Exchange have been duly complied with. These conditions have relation to such matters as the magnitude and importance of the company, the details of its articles of association and prospectus, the qualification of its directors, and the application for and allotment of shares. Promoters of companies find it necessary, therefore, to have careful regard to these conditions when bringing out the company. All bargains on the Stock Exchange in new loans and capital are prima fade for the special settlement, but it is possible, by special stipulation, to deal for the "coming out" of the loan or capital. If the conditions imposed by the rules are satisfied, a special settlement is never refused by the committee, and when once granted it is never revoked. Vendors' shares are excluded from the special settlement for six months. The granting of a special settlement is in no way an official guarantee of the character and standing of the company concerned.
name is applied generally to any detailed enumeration of things. In its special application it refers either to a description of an invention for the purposes of the patent law [see PATENT] or to the list of exported cargo required by the customs authorities [see IMPORTATION AND EXPORTATION], or to a peculiar title by which property may be acquired, or to the description of work and materials usually found in connection with a building or engineering contract. As a title to
property the word is used, in English law, in practically the same significa tions as it was used in the Roman law. If a man innocently uses the property of another, bona fide believing that it is his own property, and so alters it or changes its nature that its original character has been entirely lost, its true owner is entitled to sue for its value and is not bound to retake possession. But where the property is real, such as land, and the person who believes himself to be the owner has permanently increased its value by improvements, the real owner, on retaking possession, must pay the value of those improve ments. In buikling and engineering contra,cts the specification sets out in detail the particulars of all the work contracted to be executed and of all the materials to be used in connection therewith. Very frequently the specification also includes the terms and conditions of the contract itself, and is unaccompanied by any other document. In such a case it should clearly specify the work and materials to be done and furnished, the price to be paid, and the time or times within which the work is to be completed, the mode of payment, and the pecuniary penalty to be paid in case its terms are not duly performed. Specifications now usually follow a recognised form. The descriptions of work and materials are divided up under the various trades, and the trades follow the order in which the different tradesmen would under usual circumstances be required to perform work upon the buildings. Thus the enumeration would begin with reference to the excavator and roadmaker, and the bricklayer or waller, and end with the glazier and the painter and paperhanger. See BUILDER.